MARK HUGHES wasted little time in lifting Southampton spirits, guiding the club to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final just four days after taking over the struggling Premier League side.

Victory means the Welsh veteran will lead a team out for a Wembley cup tie for the first time in his 14 years of club management.

And the goals from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cedric Soares also give Hughes, four-times an FA Cup winner as a player with Manchester United and Chelsea, a chance to end this season with happier memories of the famous old competition.

In January, defeat in the third round at League Two Coventry City, saw Stoke exit the FA Cup and Hughes sacked as their manager practically before he even stepped off the bus back in the Potteries.

But victory against impressive and dangerous League One opponents has presented not only Hughes but his widely criticised new players, the chance to salvage their season.

“This was an important fixture,” said Hughes. “Though clearly our Premier League status is a huge concern for us and we have to retain that.

“We had to show the qualities and traits today that a good team has to show on a regular basis and maybe they haven’t done that prior to me coming to the club.

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“But the time I’ve been with them, I’ve seen good quality and application and maybe they’ve been hurt by the criticism of themselves, as individuals and as a group. Today was the first step towards addressing those criticisms.”

Still, Hughes could count himself slightly fortunate not to suffer the same fate that befell Bournemouth, West Ham and Manchester City – all victims of Wigan’s FA Cup run.

Outplayed for most of the first half, Hughes made his first half-time team talk count, sending out his side for a much improved, more aggressive, second-half display.

After 62 minutes, they took the lead that the shift in momentum merited, as Hojbjerg was left unmarked 15 yards out and drilled home directly from a Dusan Tadic corner.

Ten minutes later, the tie should have been over as Nathan Redmond’s through ball found Manolo Gabbiadini in space in the area and, after he was brought down by Dan Burn, Southampton were gifted a penalty.

Gabbiadini, scorer now of one goal in his last 20 games, had the perfect opportunity to improve that desperate record but saw a firm spot-kick saved brilliantly by Christian Walton, diving to his left.

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The second goal did eventually arrive, although not until the 91st minute, when Redmond played through full-back Cedric Soares, who moved the ball past Burn and carried it into the Wigan area before finishing impressively.

Tellingly, it was the first goal either Southampton man had scored for their club, a sure sign that Hughes has the ability to bring about a quick improvement at his struggling club.

“We haven’t been able to work with them very long but I’m excited by the group,” said Hughes. “There is good quality, good traits, good behaviours which we can work on. It’s only a short-term deal but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“Now Wembley will be a nice occasion. I’ve been to a few semi-finals as a manager but never quite made it to Wembley.

“We will enjoy it and try and take some positives out of it to hopefully help us in our league form as well.”

The day might not have been so rewarding had Wigan been able to turn their first-half domination into a goal with full-back Nathan Byrne coming closest to an opener, rolling a shot agonisingly wide after 16 minutes.

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Mark Hughes marches on with Southampton

Gary Roberts also lofted a shot over from 10 yards and the misses proved costly after the restart, with Walton keeping his side in the tie after a Byrne back pass played Gabbiadini clean in on the Wigan goal after 57 minutes.

“The cup has been a massive headache in the league but it has been great,” said Wigan manager Paul Cook. “You can’t ask any more of the players, they have been a credit to the club and represented League One really well.

“You can’t ask for any more than four games against four Premier League teams and the Man City game will live long in the memory. It’s a massive disappointment to go out so close to Wembley but the focus now is promotion.”